The Day the Magic Died
by dunuelos
Summary: I was reading a story of the non-magicals deciding they weren't going to take it anymore - just exactly too late to really help. It fit a bunny that I had long considered. This is the start of a crossover - but I didn't write beyond this point. Anyone who wants to write a story based on this is welcome. This is done for my part.


Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, Man-Who-Won, and currently the number one position-holder on the Most-Wanted lists for Great Britain, Interpol, the United States, and dozens and dozens of other countries, looked out at the gathered witches, wizards, goblins, house elves, and other various magical creatures.

It was December of 2012 and the magical portions of the world had been under attack for nearly fifteen years.

He had been very naïve in his teens. He had thought that defeating Voldemort and breaking the back of the pureblood movement would result in peace for his friends and family. He had thought that the removal of so many dark wizards and witches would result in a more accepting world.

He had found out that he was wrong.

It had started almost immediately after the end the war. The Muggle government, having gotten tired of the crimes committed against its citizens, had reacted with prejudice against every family that was considered "Pure-Blood." Specifically, those listed as the Sacred 28.

Kingsley, the Minister at the time, had tried to explain to them that the Pureblood Supremacist movement had been defeated and that the very worst had died or were being incarcerated. The Muggles had decided that a preemptive attack against any remaining families was justified.

They had used Muggleborns who had been turned away to spy on Magical Britain and gather intelligence. As the Heir of Black and as the Head of Potter, he was considered to be part of this threat – regardless of the fact that he was the major force behind defeating the terrorists that they were fighting against.

The true scope of the effort had been hidden. Those rejected Muggleborns had been quite bitter and had provided a skewed view. The Government had acted precipitously. And the magicals had paid the price.

The fight had escalated over the years to a global scale. Even when world leaders realized the depths of the issue and exactly how many were killed by their attacks, it had been far too late. A magical population of several million world-wide had dwindled down to a few thousand.

The large number of magical creatures which had existed had also been decimated. Species after species had gone extinct in the wide world. Potions that had been taken for granted were now in very short supply.

The final sanctuary for magic and for all magical creatures world wide came from an extremely unexpected source: The Black Family.

Harry had inherited much from his godfather, Sirius Black. One thing that he had inherited which was only known the members of the Black Family was a very large island in the Caribbean Sea.

Centuries earlier, the one of the Blacks had decided to head out and claim as much as he could from the new world. Stealing the identity of a son of a British Navel Officer that he had killed named Edward Teach, he started looting shipping in the New World. He had taken the name of "Blackbeard" in amusement, a single clue as to his true identity.

He had found a very large island which had yet to be claimed by any country. Needing a sanctuary, he had warded the Island against any Muggle finding it. The few who had lived upon it were systematically either killed or made to forget where they had been and been moved off of the island. As far as the records went, no one outside of the Black Family knew that it existed.

Over the next century, the Black Family had increased the wards and protections to an extreme level. Being untrusting of Muggles and other magicals, every effort was used to create a paradise of magical retreat.

And while it existed in the tropical regions, the Black Family had even created an almost Garden of Eden type environment of magic. If ever they had to withdraw from society, they didn't want to suffer from deprivations.

The fabulous wealth of the Black Family was much larger than even the Goblins had known. Whole ships full of Gold had been captured by the pirate and his crew and, while he did share some of it, the majority of it had been cached within this sanctuary.

Wand-grade trees were imported with bowtruckles included to care for them. Unicorns existed within the island as well. A colony of Hiberian Black Dragons existed upon the island. Even phoenixes used the island as a refuge. And, while it had suffered years of neglect, the island had long-since normalized into a self-sustaining environment.

One of the Earth's ley-lines had been coopted to power the wards which surrounded the island. The island was truly a haven for magic – and, if it had been discovered by the Muggles it would have been one of the richer islands in the Caribbean.

The various ships that had run into it over the years had been "lost" – according to most records. Myths surrounding the area made it something that superstitious people avoided. The Black family had long encouraged these rumours. After all, how could an area where there were almost no islands or landmasses account for so much destruction? The tales of the Bermuda Triangle were legendary, though actual losses were miniscule.

The Black family had even left a small island to the northwest alone as a strategic choice. After all, if ships were seen going in that direction, then they were assumed to be going to the small island called Bermuda.

Regardless, when the decision to withdraw as many survivors as possible was made, Harry's discovery of the true scope of the Island and it's "reserve" quality environment made it ideal.

Over three years, a surreptitious movement of magical records, people, and artifacts had been initiated. The Goblins had been enlisted to create methods and ways for large numbers to be moved. Much of the gold and silver and bronze that had lain within unclaimed vaults had been coopted to finance this migration.

The Goblins had, surprisingly, been rather calm about this destruction of the sacred trust of Gringotts to maintain such despite all of those who had protested. Seers throughout the species had been adamant that it was necessary. A record had been put into every emptied vault of exactly what had been taken and should someone new arrive to claim the vaults, the amounts would be reimbursed.

This was extremely unlikely as the results of this mass migration had produced a curious result: Almost no Muggleborns were now being born at all. And these were the source of most claims made against old vaults. It was as if the withdrawal of magical creatures and peoples prevented the spark of magic within those would have been Muggleborns from actually occurring.

There was almost an unprecedented amount of conflict occurring within the world as well. As magical centers were withdrawn or abandoned or destroyed, random groups who were no longer affected by the magic around them would erupt into violence against their neighbors, themselves, or against other peoples.

It was as if Hope was being lost every day.

Finally, all that could be saved had been brought to the island. And, to the grief of those remaining, the anticipated overcrowding never materialized – as far too many had been killed or had sacrificed themselves to save others.

However, it was also noted that the Earth itself seemed to be losing its "magical field" – the ley lines were no longer refreshing themselves.

And the gathered leaders of those magicals left had talked about what to do – because to do nothing would mean that all would be lost.

Harry Potter had long been named as the Supreme Mugwump, leader of the remaining Witches and Wizards of the world. He was the strongest and thus was the focus for much of the protections that remained. Also included were leaders from various places in the world: A Chinese man who led the remaining Magicals who had fled Asia, a Zulu Chieftain who led the African contingent, an Aborigines who led the Australians, a Mayan Princess to lead the Latin magicals, a Canadian man who led the remaining Americans of all types, and a Persian man who led the remaining Magicals from the Middle East – prejudices between the few Arabic, Hebrew, Armenian, and Persian Magicals had been left behind in the face of extinction.

Harry had a few advisors including a scarred Hermione Granger who had survived by dint of having been Muggleborn and not targeted before she had been sequestered due to the need for an intelligent mind to research. She was in charge of all magical knowledge that had been kept – the magical libraries of the world were either in the island or now destroyed. Neville Longbottom had also been removed from the front lines as the best remaining expert on Magical plants. A morose Charlie Weasley, the only remaining one, was in charge of all magical animals. He did have a niece in the daughter of Fleur, who was among the few remaining Veela. The remaining Veela looked to Harry as their leader as well as there were few remaining. There was also Ragnok, who led the Goblins, the largest non-human residents. Firenze led the few remaining Centaurs. The survival of this species was tottering on the brink. The few hundred remaining House Elves looked to the wizards to lead them as well.

There were no vampires – those remaining had chosen to sacrifice themselves to carry out clandestine attacks against Muggles who were targeting the Magicals. The same could be said for werewolves – the packs of the world had been hunted mercilessly by the Muggles far more than Magicals ever had and they had wanted revenge. The Giants had been slaughtered, as had the trolls. The Mermen had withdrawn and thought to be either in hiding or extinct.

The final decision was made: The lone Portal of Death was recovered and research was carried out. Some had long speculated that it could be used to create a portal to another world – if one were willing to destroy the ley lines closest to it. It had never been used this way and so had been "untargeted" – meaning a quick death for any who passed its threshold. With the proper ritual however, it could connect to another world that would be minimally compatible at least.

No guarantees were made as to what world they would arrive to. They did now know if they would find a world like theirs or a different world entirely.

And so the remaining Magicals of the world began creating magical trunks and bags and methods of moving everything magical that remained. All the magical plants were in greenhouses. Magical trunks were created to hold forests of trees and creatures who lived within these trees. The Goblins gathered the hundred tons of precious metals that would be the basis of a monetary system wherever they arrived to. House Elves would help to move the vast amounts of food that had been gathered which would tide the migration over until plantings could occur wherever they arrived. Large numbers of warding stones, uncharged, were created so that protections could quickly be placed upon their arrival.

Library trunks would carry their accumulated knowledge. Others would contain personal belongings – not much compared to what it had been.

The movement of the thousands of wizards and witches and goblins house elves and a few non-magical relatives who had thrown their lot in with them, many carrying the trunks and bags containing the combined resources would take, once it began, a maximum of 343 minutes – because that was how long the ritual could connect the two sides: Seven times seven times seven minutes or seven to the third power.

Those remaining accepted that if death was the final result, they would accept it – their own hope was in short supply.

And so the lines of people were there, waiting for the specialists to finish the rituals. It would open, if done properly, at Universal Time 5:29 on December 21, 2012 and the portal would close at 11:12 Universal Time on that same day – at the exact moment of the Winter Solstice.

The Ritual would, upon the exact moment of the Solstice, cause the entire magical network of ley lines upon the Earth to collapse – and the Earth would be, for the first time in its history, entirely without magic. This energy would be used to collapse the Veil.

They had left behind a record for the non-Magicals. It contained all the records of how many had been killed, of the loss of life that the Leaders of the World had started when they began the offensive in 1998. A list of names and ages had been included. Pictures and films and parchment would tell the tale of what the world had lost. The records of the magical creatures destroyed by the offensive would be known. The loss of magical plants would be recorded. The knowledge that would no longer be useful would find its way to those who were left.

Copies of these records would appear in select places without the world where magical had set them to be found when all the magic disappeared. Some copies had been left with non-magical journalists who knew of the campaign – and would refuse to keep it hidden.

Harry Potter had decided, when the decision was made to leave, to ensure that their names and the lost history could never been hidden. He was certain that efforts would be made to hide it, but he would leave judgment to those who remained. There was nothing else to do.

December 21, 2012 would forever be known as the day the magic died.

AN: When I envisioned this, I envision the arrival into the world of Middle Earth, in Hollin, just outside of Moria. The Goblins of Earth would take over the Mines of Moria with the help of the magicals and the world would be changed around this center point of Middle Earth. It was the one place I thought of empty enough but still healthy (Hollin) to support ten to twelve thousand new arrivals into the world.

I realized upon writing this that any number of worlds could be the arrival point. And so I didn't write the arrival. I will leave that for anyone who might want to use this as a starting point of a crossover. It's too much for me to write with what life is giving me right now. My muse is banked - not put out, just on hold. Little flares still occur at random.


End file.
